When we bought this house David and I had no intention of being here longer than 5 years (it has been 9) and we really didn’t expect to have two children while living in this house. As a result we 
have maximized every inch of space we have (including my triangular shaped linen closet – no, I’m not lying). One of the reasons why we bought this house was because of the kitchen. I love to cook and wanted a kitchen with plenty of counter space. Well, we got it, and it was cream colored Formica. Now, you don’t think of this as being an issue when you are 30 and childless but after 9 years you begin to realize how much “stuff” shows up and stains cream colored Formica. Well, we finally ripped the Formica out this summer and replaced it with granite (thank you George Bush and all you nasty republicans for that tax cut – couldn’t have done it without you). Over the next couple of days I’ll be posting pictures of our wonderful transformation (as well as the new built-in cabinets in the living room).
HOWEVER, you can’t clean granite with 409, which is what I’ve been scrubbing my Formica with these past 9 years. I also wanted to spruce up my wood, albeit cheap, cabinets. I went to my local Target and bought two things that really worked for me.
Clorax Green Works All-Purpose Cleaner
It is environmentally friendly. What this means to me is that I recognized almost all the ingredients on the label. That has to be a good sign. It is also safe on granite. It cleans pretty well and leaves a lovely smell behind – could you ask for more?
Method Wood Cleaner
I must admit I bought this because of the container (some packaging designer is doing a little happy dance right now). I should confess that I haven’t bought a lot of wood cleaners so I don’t have much to compare this to, but this did a nice job on my cabinets and smells like almonds. And as you can tell from my previous comments smell is a big deal for me.
So I guess this means that my kitchen now smells like lemons and almonds. Hmmm, not a bad smell really. Come back tomorrow when I’ll be posting the transformation pictures.
Smell is huge, especially in cleaning products. Also, it’s usually the smell (of stagnant dish water or dirty diapers in the trash) that usually gets me to actually clean the house.
Those counters look gorgeous. My parents just got granite awhile ago. Makes a huge difference.
I LOVE Method’s wood cleaner. I find the smell to be a little funky, but it’s a lot better than mixing my own wood cleaner every week, LOL!
Thanks for the product recommendations!
George W. allowed me to start my fabric store! I was happy to stimulate the economy by purchasing fabric! 😉
We bought our wooden countertops at IKEA in SLC (we live in Denver) as we were passing through. I have since (1 year later) decided that wood and sink and water etc. was not the best choice. My husband wants granite, I’m wishy washy because of the expense. But I’m glad to know you’re loving it and looking forward to seeing the play by play of your kitchen transformation!
Marigold: So far I do love the granite and it has completely transformed my kitchen. The nicest thing about it is that I can’t see the dirt and so it always looks clean. Yippee!!! I was hoping to post picts Friday, but they won’t really be done until late Friday – so look for the whole transformation story on Monday. I’m so tired of having my toaster in my living room. haha